Dog Obedience training.

CARS –
RIDING IN CARS

by Dennis Fisher.

This article is one of a great many articles
written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning
different dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health
matters, training problems and other subjects. All these articles appear
on Dennis Fisher's websites. Visit
http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site
that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or
http://www.freedogadvice.com if you
interested in a breed other than German Shepherd Dogs.

Having adogget sick in your in your
car isavery irritating and frustrating
experience.

Dogs are
very much the same as humans in this respect.Some people never have motion sickness with
anyform oftravel; others start feeling queasy the moment they step on board a boat.

Some dogs take a car trip in their
stride andin fact get very excited
when they with you in your car. Others
dogs start getting sick even after you have travelled only a few miles.

The
initial car trip for a sensitive animal can be somewhat traumatic and it is best
to introduce him to the idea of car travel gradually.

The
initial car trip for an intelligent animal can be somewhat traumatic and it is
best to introduce him to the idea of car travel gradually.

When you
introduce your dog for his first car trip make sure that you have not fed him
for a few hours.Another good idea
is to have the dog sit in thefront
of the car for a while with you without travelling at all.

Do this for a few days and then on the
following occasion travel only a short distance before returning home.

When you
do take the dog for his first car trip do you best to watch him closely while
you are driving. Better still; let someone else do the driving while you can
observe the dog’s reaction more closely.

Go to an
area away from traffic where it will be easy to stop suddenly.If the dog shows any sign of being sick stop the car immediately and take
him out for a short walk.

It’s a
good idea to have a leash and collar on the dogwhile he is in the car so
that you won’t haveact very
quickly to put his collar and leash on him when you suddenly have to stop and
take him out.

The
preparatory sings of a dog beginning to show signs of nausea are very easy to
stop as there is sort of coughing sound and a slight heaving.

It might
be a goodplan to have a sheet of
plastic on the car seat in case you are little slow in getting the dog out of
the car in time.This can be of
great help in cleaning the car afterwards.

You’ll
soon find that the dog loves the car because it is an indication that he is
going out with you.

Becausethe dog’s first introduction to the car ride was to sit in front with
you, there may be a tendency for the dog towant to sit in front all the time.Obviously this has to be curbed and it can done quite easily.

A simple, but firm command “Get to the
back” combined with a hand signal where you want him to sit will soon do the
trick.

One often
sees a dog in the back seat of a car with his head out of the window.The dogis obviously
enjoying the ride, but this is not a safe plan as the dog could easily be hurt
in this way.

Also there
is a definite possibility that he might get a foreign, irritating object in his
eyes.

There is
one training aspect that you should keep in mindwith regard to training a dog to get used to riding in the car with you.
The dog must get used to the idea of waiting until you get out of the car fist
before he is allowed to get out.

When youstop the and get out of your car -whether it is a temporary stop at a supermarket or your finalstop when you return home – always give the dog a firm “Stay”or “Wait” command.

The “Wait” command is preferable.Dogs in training soon recognize the difference between the two commands.“Stay”, given in a firm, definite tone of voice means the dog must stay
until you return – as in the case of the Obedience test when the dog is obliged
to remain in the Stay position for at least ten minutes.“Wait” is an indication to the dog that it is a temporary stay and quite
soon he can expect to be followed by another command.

It could
bedangerous for a dog to bound out
of a car as soon as it stops – dangerous for the dogitselfif it were tojump out it the face of oncoming traffic.Also dangerous for any small children whomight happento be close to
the car when an excited large dog
suddenly jumps out of the car.